Ethan Dodd – Visual Artist. Cardiff, Wales

October 28, 2013October 28, 2013

‘Nud’ series, Sarah Lucas

I must admit, I used to hate Sarah Lucas; there was something inherent in her work that annoyed me, but I could not figure out what it was. Of course, I did harbour a fascination fr only a ‘select’ type of work, which was my downfall. However, now that I have branched out with my tastes, I have come to love her work. There’s always a sense of mischief surrounding the pieces, and this is something I really do enjoy about it.

Her NUD series is something that I’ve kept my eye on for a while, but it’s only come into a greater relevance during this project, where it seems to have influenced my own sculptures of ’embracing forms’. I love the surrealist aspects of them, and I want to capture this same kind of ‘feeling’ within my own work. They are odd things, fleshy and realistic in for but also incredibly abstract. Despite this, there is something distinctively human about the way they are crafted, as if you were to feel them, they would be warm and soft, as if gripping the thigh or arm of a loved one.

The sexual overtones are also incredibly obvious, as with all of Lucas’ works, but it’s not gross or in your face; It’s subtle. The feeling of an embrace here is one of love, one of innocence and vulnerable affection. It’s beautiful, in that respect.